Post by kyblueintenn on Jan 17, 2004 17:38:11 GMT -5
With national signing day less than three weeks away, Paducah Tilghman's Joe Casey is weighing his options.
Casey, who is listed as one of the nation's top high school running backs by most recruiting services, was one of the first oral commitments secured by Rich Brooks' staff at Kentucky. But two things -- Casey's academic status and the University of Arkansas -- have thrown that commitment for a loop.
Casey withdrew from Tilghman High School the week after his team lost to Boyle County in the Class 3A semifinals and said the UK staff planned for him to attend a California junior college in mid-January. However, Casey said yesterday that he'd prefer to remain in Paducah and work toward gaining freshman eligibility next season.
"Academically, I think I did the smart thing," he said. "I don't think staying (at Tilghman) would have helped me get done what I needed to do.
"(Kentucky) wants me to go to California, but I don't really want to do that right now. I want to see if I can take care of business here and be playing somewhere as a freshman."
Casey said he plans to take both the GED test and ACT soon and would either enroll at UK or Arkansas if he meets the requirements for freshman eligibility. If he doesn't qualify, Casey said he then would look at junior colleges.
"I'm just making moves right now trying to get everything situated," he said. "If everything goes right, I'll be at either UK or Arkansas (in the fall)."
Casey said Arkansas became involved shortly after he committed to UK, selling him on immediately replacing the departed Cedric Cobbs in the Razorbacks' backfield. UK is still in the picture, however, and Casey said it's unlikely he'll sign with either school on Feb. 4, the first day high school recruits can sign national letters of intent.
"UK was the first school to really be in on me, so it's not like I'm just going to drop them," he said. "Arkansas came in and said some really good things, too, but I'm just going to wait it out and try to get some things taken care of on my end. People think I'm sitting around here and doing nothing. But like I said, I'm making moves. It's a lot of pressure to get a lot of stuff done, but we'll just see what happens."
www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/colleges/university_of_kentucky/7732573.htm
Casey, who is listed as one of the nation's top high school running backs by most recruiting services, was one of the first oral commitments secured by Rich Brooks' staff at Kentucky. But two things -- Casey's academic status and the University of Arkansas -- have thrown that commitment for a loop.
Casey withdrew from Tilghman High School the week after his team lost to Boyle County in the Class 3A semifinals and said the UK staff planned for him to attend a California junior college in mid-January. However, Casey said yesterday that he'd prefer to remain in Paducah and work toward gaining freshman eligibility next season.
"Academically, I think I did the smart thing," he said. "I don't think staying (at Tilghman) would have helped me get done what I needed to do.
"(Kentucky) wants me to go to California, but I don't really want to do that right now. I want to see if I can take care of business here and be playing somewhere as a freshman."
Casey said he plans to take both the GED test and ACT soon and would either enroll at UK or Arkansas if he meets the requirements for freshman eligibility. If he doesn't qualify, Casey said he then would look at junior colleges.
"I'm just making moves right now trying to get everything situated," he said. "If everything goes right, I'll be at either UK or Arkansas (in the fall)."
Casey said Arkansas became involved shortly after he committed to UK, selling him on immediately replacing the departed Cedric Cobbs in the Razorbacks' backfield. UK is still in the picture, however, and Casey said it's unlikely he'll sign with either school on Feb. 4, the first day high school recruits can sign national letters of intent.
"UK was the first school to really be in on me, so it's not like I'm just going to drop them," he said. "Arkansas came in and said some really good things, too, but I'm just going to wait it out and try to get some things taken care of on my end. People think I'm sitting around here and doing nothing. But like I said, I'm making moves. It's a lot of pressure to get a lot of stuff done, but we'll just see what happens."
www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/colleges/university_of_kentucky/7732573.htm
